Natu Bearwolf (she/her)

In partnership with Bulkley Valley Concert Association

unceded traditional territory of the Gidimt'en Clan and the Wet'suwet'en people
Smithers, BC

Natu Bearwolf is Wet'suwet'en and was born into the Gidimt'en clan.  Natu is a second generation 60's scoop survivor so was not born or raised on her home territory.  She has worked through many mountains of trauma to make her way home to the lands of her ancestors.  Natu now lives, works and plays on her homelands (Wet'suwet'en, Gidimt'en clan territory) and now she's ready to dance on them too.  After an extremely turbulent and violent childhood Natu found solace in music, teaching herself to sing and play guitar.  Natu is now ready for her next level of healing; dance.

"This residency is coming at the perfect time for me.  After 20 years of self-medicating my trauma with alcohol, I have now been sober for 2 years.  I am peeling the onion of intergenerational trauma layer by layer and I feel dance in the natural next step.  I have decided to create a piece based on grief.  Mourning the loss of my parents, and the relationships I never got to have with them because of the level of childhood trauma I experienced.  Grieving the loss of the healthy connections I was not able to form with my brothers because of the violence we experienced during our formative years.  And of course, the loss of not growing up with my extended family and experiencing my land and culture because of the effects of the 60's scoop.  I look forward to this project and how powerful it will be for me on my healing journey."

COLLABORATOR

  • Lindsay Katsitsakatste Delaronde

    My name is Lindsay Katsitsakatste Delaronde, I am a Kanienke’haka woman from Kahnawake. For the past 13 years I have been a grateful, active and contributing guest on Lekwungen territory, Victoria, BC. I hold a Master’s degree in Fine Arts and a Master of Arts in the Indigenous Communities Counseling Psychology Program from the University of Victoria. I am currently enrolled in a PHD in Applied Theatre at UVIC. My areas of research are Contemporary and Traditional First Nations visual art, Indigenous performance practices, expressive arts therapy examining decolonial methodologies in art. My artistic practice focuses on Indigenous theatre, land-based/site-specific performance art, collaborative practice, cultural resurgence an social/political activism through the arts. My artistic media include land- based photography, performance/theatre, movement/dance and visual studio arts. I held the position as the first Indigenous Artist in Residence for the City of Victoria 2017-2019. Co- facilitator for the collaboration project Achord. Visionary/Facilitator for both Indigenous Symposiums, Performance as Medicine, Making as Medicine. Visionary/Producer/Co-facilitator/Community engagement for both Indigenous showcases Pendulum & Supernova, at the BelfryTheatre, Founder & Artistic Director for the Visible Bodies Collective. Dance residency recipient at Dance Victoria. Director for the film Mother: embodying MotherEarth teachings through land-based performance, Co- founder and Artistic Director for the Culture Den Society.